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With the ever-increasing influence of social media affecting every business, it is more important than ever to be hyper-vigilant when it comes to the perception by your patients that you care about them. They need to feel that you care about them more than money, more than efficiency, more than your own sense of importance.

And understand that the opposite of caring is indifference. Think about how quickly and easily you perceive when someone is being uncaring or indifferent to you? How little did you like it? And did you post somewhere about it? Did you feel compelled to tell someone? Or did you just not use that service anymore?

It doesn’t matter if you’re not feeling particularly caring that day or toward that patient (and I’m talking about everyone on the dental team, not just dentist). What matters is that they perceive that you care. Which means maybe you have to act like you care, even if you don’t feel like it. Because that’s the job.

This blog was inspired by a recent post by Seth Godin, whom I normally find extremely insightful, but this post was more akin to wisdom, and relates directly to creating a remarkable patient experience (my favorite theme!), so I’m going to quote it in its entirety here for you:

The Toxic Antidote to Goodwill,

by Seth Godin

Anyone who has done the math will tell you that word of mouth is the most efficient way to gain trust, spread the word and grow.

And yet…

It only takes a moment to destroy. Only a few sentences, a heartless broken promise, a lack of empathy, and it’s gone. Not only that, but the lost connection can easily lead to lawsuits.

Doctor, the surgery seems to have gone wrong!

It’s not my fault. I did a perfect job. Tough luck.

Architect, the floor is sagging, the beams were put in the wrong direction!

I don’t care. There’s a three-year statute of limitations, and even then, it wasn’t my job to ensure that the work met the plans.

Airline, my two-year-old can’t sit in a row by herself, and the agent on the phone said you’d work it so we could sit together!

It’s not my fault. If you don’t want to get on the plane, don’t get on the plane.

In all three cases, there are significant operational barriers to magically fixing the problem. But that’s not where the breakdown happened. It happened because a human being decided to not care. Not care and not express anything that felt like caring.

A human being, perhaps intimidated by lawyers, or tired after a hard day, or the victim of a bureaucracy (all valid reasons) then made the stupid decision to not care.

By not caring, by not expressing any empathy, this individual denied themselves their own humanity. By putting up a brick wall, they isolate themselves. Not only do they destroy any hope for word of mouth, they heap disrespect on someone else. By working so hard to not engage (in the vain hope that this will somehow keep them clean), they end up in the mud, never again to receive the benefit of the doubt.

What kind of day or week or career is that? To live in a lucite bubble, keeping track only of individuals defeated and revenue generated?

It turns out that while people like to have their problems fixed, what they most want is to be seen and to be cared about.

Of course you should use these fraught moments to reinforce connections and build word of mouth. Of course you should realize that in fact people like us get asked to recommend airlines and doctors and architects all the time, but now, we will never ever recommend you to anyone, in fact, we’ll go out of our way to keep people from choosing you.

But the real reason you should extend yourself in these moments when it all falls apart is that this is how you will measure yourself over time. What did you do when you had a chance to connect and to care?

Sometimes the only option is to reach deep into ourselves to offer up caring even when we feel we are too busy, too annoyed, too frustrated or too frazzled. But this is when it makes all the difference. And if it’s just a performance, so be it. Because what happens almost every time is that other person responds positively, warmly, humanly. And suddenly you feel yourself genuinely caring. And find a way to solve the issue.

I’m very excited about my upcoming webinar on June 14th. It’s with Dr. Anissa Holmes who, along with being named one of the top 25 women in dentistry, also has 50,000–yes, 50,000–fans of her Facebook page. I am in awe of this, and we’re going to dig deep into how she managed this.

She’s also going to talk about how to effectively advertise on Facebook, how she generates 50 new patients a month from Facebook alone, and even how to use Facebook to fill last-minute cancellations. We are going to pack your brain with social media wisdom, so don’t miss it!

That’s Wednesday, June 14th, at 11am PST, 2pm EST. Register by clicking here. As always, even if you miss the webinar, if you register you will get a link to the recorded version emailed to you. You may just want to watch it twice!!

Next Wednesday, February 8th, my old friend Dr. Howard Farran and I will take a deep dive into the raging waters of building a dental team! You can be sure that it will be a lively discussion, and will give you some practical ideas on creating a team that will make your practice thrive in this ever-changing economy. It’s a free webinar (retail value $1 million+) so be sure to join in at 11am Pacific, 2pm Eastern, etc. Register here to join the fun!

Also, if you can’t watch at those times, if you register you will be sent a full video recording of the webinar, so don’t miss out, register today!

I’m continually being asked the best way to do patient testimonial videos, so I’m going to lay it out for you.

People ask in part because I am always saying that patient videos are the most powerful marketing tools available, and perhaps the most versatile. You can post them on your website, on your YouTube channel, on Facebook, and in your Google and Yelp profiles. And people love watching videos. Facebook and Snapchat both have over 8 billion video views a day. Yes, I said billion!

Requesting and making videos should be someone’s specific responsibility in the office, and in some ways everyone’s. Every team member should be willing to request this from a patient they believe will do a good testimonial. But every office should have one point person–the Facebook Geek, I call them–that is in charge of regularly doing these, like one a week, and then posting them in all the appropriate places.

Here are the steps:

STEP ONE: ASK FOR A TESTIMONIAL

Identify a patient who might be a good candidate, either because they just had a great result, or they’ve already praised the practice in some way. If they just said, “You are all so nice here. I’m so happy I found you.” That’s your cue to say, “We’d love it if you would do a short video saying that for us to use on social media. You know how important that is nowadays.” Don’t say crazy stuff like, “Please help us promote our practice,” or, “We really need your help getting new patients.” Don’t sound desperate.

If the person is reluctant, just say, “If you don’t like it we won’t use it. But all you have to do is take 30 seconds and tell us what it’s like to be a patient of ours.” If they’re still hesitant, then back off.

STEP TWO: RECORD ON A SMARTPHONE

This is what makes the testimonial real and credible: You didn’t make a big production out of it. You made it like a video that they do themselves all the time. Using a smartphone camera is also less intimidating to the patient. One more important thing: shoot it in horizontal mode [I’m amending this from my original post] because in most media it will look much better. The one challenge is that 70% of Facebook viewers are watching on mobile phones, and people don’t like to turn them. This is why Facebook’s new Canvas ad format is a good example of the direction this is all going. The solution is to shoot through Instagram in horizontal mode, and then you can modify the shape if you want to.

You’re looking for four things from the patient:

sincerity–you want them to be believable;

enthusiasm–low energy is not persuasive or watchable;

brevity–it should be at the MOST, 60 seconds long. Closer to 30 is better;

the practice/dentist’s name–this “labels” the video internally.

WARNING: Don’t let them talk about their treatment in the video! This qualifies as “patient health information,” and this is where the HIPAA challenge arises. It would require you to create a release from the patient describing the specific treatment and who the audience would be that would see it. Too much trouble. The fact that they agreed to make the video would seem to me to qualify as a release, but the government doesn’t see it that way.

However, the patient can make a video on their own phone and post it to their Facebook wall. Patients can say whatever they want in their own posts on social media, because they can’t violate their own HIPAA. If they do it that way, then you can share that video on your practice page.

STEP THREE: SHOW THE VIDEO TO THE PATIENT FOR APPROVAL

If you did more than one take, ask them which one they like. But make sure they approve you using it.

STEP FOUR: GET A SIGNED RELEASE

If you don’t already have one with the patient, get one, to use their image and video in all media, including social media, in perpetuity. If they won’t sign one, then don’t use the video. If you have an account with HR for Health, they can provide one, otherwise use LegalZoom.

STEP FIVE: ASK THEM TO SHARE IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

If they did it on their phone, obviously they can share it on Instagram or Facebook.

STEP SIX: POST IT ON ALL YOUR DIGITAL LOCATIONS

Website (your website should have a separate page for patient testimonials, with a link from the home page. If not, read this blog.)

YouTube channel

Yelp profile

Google+ page

Facebook (start with Instagram and have it post automatically–the Facebook geek knows what I’m talking about)

LinkedIn

Twitter

As a huge motivational bonus, show them to your team in morning huddles. Letting everyone know how much they are appreciated by patients is a great way to start the day.

Here are examples of the right and wrong way to do videos:

The above one mentions the treatment, cost, negative aspects of the experience, but is in the right framing–horizontal.

This one doesn’t mention treatment, is positive and energetic, and says the dentist’s name. But it’s shot vertically, so it’s only good for Facebook mobile. Almost there.

Make it a habit to do videos. As I said, they are the most credible and versatile marketing tool you have or your practice. Do one today!

After a year of writing and editing, my second book has finally been published. It’s called Becoming Remarkable: Creating a Dental Practice Everyone Talks About. It takes the ideas in my first book to the next level. It’s called “Becoming Remarkable” because that’s what you literally have to be. Your practice experience has to be so amazing and unique that people can’t resist talking about you.

That has become more important than ever because when people talk now, they do it with their thumbs. They post it somewhere, whether it’s on Facebook, or Yelp, or as a Google review. They are adding it to your online identity and reputation, and it’s searchable, likable, sharable, and perhaps most importantly, undeletable.

I love signing books. It’s very flattering to an author when people ask.

Some of the things that I cover in the book are:

The impact of corporate dentistry on private practice, and why you either need to join them or compete effectively with them;

How the dental patient has changed in the past 8 years, from their attitude about insurance to their expectation of convenience;

Where to put your time, energy and money online for the best results;

The impact of technology on your practice and on patients’ perception of value;

Why your trustworthiness is the most important element in your practice, and what increases or decreases it;

And much more.

Some of you may find my various suggestions and predictions controversial. But I’ve never been one to shy away from the debates about the industry’s direction. I’m passionate about the future of dentistry, and the urgency to evolve and grow.

I also feature six remarkable dentists and their unique stories and approaches. What I found striking was how differently they all approached their practices, except for one thing: the patient always came first. I hope to discover many more remarkable dentists in the coming months, and will feature their stories in this blog.

Meanwhile, I hope you take the time to read my new book, and that it gives you insights and practical tools to build and maintain a remarkable practice over the coming decades. You can order it here, or buy the Kindle version on Amazon.

I’m recording the audio version next week, so it won’t be available for about a month. Hey, I’ve been busy!

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Fred's new book, Becoming Remarkable, takes your practice to the next level, and helps you create the practice patients can't resist talking about. Fred's first book, Everything is Marketing newly revised for 2014, takes you step by step through your practice, revealing how everything you say or do communicates a message to your patients.
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